Natural help for RLS, anxiety and disturbed sleep

VitalCALM has been developed by Janice Wilson for the natural treatment of Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) and it is also suggested for reducing anxiety and improving sleep. She founded her company, Simply Vital, after having worked on drug development for the pharmaceutical industry and deciding she wanted to provide a more holistic approach in providing natural remedies as an alternative to drugs,

RLS is often not taken seriously enough by doctors but it affects 1.5 million people in the UK with women more likely to be affected by the condition, and it becomes more common with age. The uncomfortable sensations of RLS are usually triggered by inactivity, are often more noticeable in the evening and, for some, prevent them from sleeping.

Symptoms can be temporarily relieved by movement and recently GPs have been allowed to prescribe the same drugs used to treat Parkinson disease since low dopamine is implicated in RLSand sufferers know it can be quite debilitating. Symptoms can range from twitching legs when you are trying to relax or sleep, and creepy, often painful sensations that create an overwhelming urge to move. Sufferers report their greatest problems lie in an inability to relax and sit still, and disturbed sleep which has a knock on effect on how they feel during the day. It can also be a social embarrassment as sufferers are unable to control the restless kicking out that is associated with the condition.

If you have RLS you are most likely to be prescribed the same drugs as Parkinson’s, usually some form of dopamine, and these can have unpleasant side effects. Simply Vital have come up with a natural supplement using blue green algae extracts from Lake Klamath that contain two different molecules that should increase dopamine levels in the brain naturally as well as powerful antioxidants to treat RLS. It has been specifically developed to address severe imbalances in neurotransmitter status, which can lead to restlessness in both mind and body.

Boosting levels of dopamine has several beneficial effects as it has many important roles in the body. It is involved in the regulation of other hormones including insulin and is necessary to make us feel good, which is why when we have reduced levels of it we can suffer from fatigue, reduced sex drive, lack of motivation, obesity, addictions, anxiety and depression.

VitalCALM doesn’t have the usual disadvantage I have found in algae supplements, which are generally in powder form and feel like you are drinking a pond, as they come in a capsule form which is certainly easier to take – and rather more expensive. However if it can calm and relax the body so that RLS is no longer a problem, then it is probably well worth it.

If you want to know more, then visit their website at www.simplyvital.com

Honey triumphs for children’s coughs

Sometimes, old-fashioned is best, particularly when it’s natural and can benefit children. According to a study published in the US Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, a teaspoon of honey was better than cough medicine for children because it coated and soothed the irritated throat. It calmed the cough, and helped them sleep better and has none of the side effects or potential dangers of some of the commercial cough syrups. I love it when grandma’s old remedies are verified by research. This particular study used 105 kids with upper respiratory infections, some were given honey, others a honey-flavored cough medicine. All the kids got better but plain-old honey consistently scored higher than the drugs at combating the symptoms.

BUT there is just one caution, because of a very small risk of a rare form of botulism honey shouldn’t be given to children until they are over the age of one year.

Weight gain and increased breast cancer risk

It’s a natural tendency for women to gain weight as they go through menopause and the body lays down fat cells to provide the oestrogen that is lacking from the natural cycle. We know that the highest risk group are women over 50, they comprise around 80 percent of cases, but there are now two new studies that show that a woman’s risk is increased if she is seriously overweight – whatever her age.

Previously it was believed that postmenopausal women were the most at risk but the study by scientists at Geneva University, Switzerland, have shown that it is a woman’s lipid profile and oestradiol levels related to her weight are also determining factors. They found that in their study of women aged 25-80 years old that obese women presented significantly more often with stage III and stage IV cancer and the figures are extraordinary:

** these women were a staggering 180% more likely to have later stage breast cancer than women of normal weight.

** they were also 240% more likely to have tumours that were equal to or greater in size than 1 centimeter

** their chances of having positive lymph nodes were 510% more likely than normal weight women and this suggests cancer may have spread to other parts of their bodies

Not only does obesity clearly increase breast cancer risk, but other research has shown it shortens the time between return of the disease and lowers overall survival rates. In 2007, Italian researchers went presented evidence that a hormone found in fat cells called leptin significantly influences breast cancer development. Leptin is a hormone derived from fat cells that sends messages to the body that it is time to stop eating. Obese people often do not have a clear signal from the leptin receptor and it is this failure that has previously been shown to be involved in the development of breast cancer. Leptin has been found in 86.4% of primary breast tumours. This is because it increases the amount of oestradiol in breast tissue and we know that excess oestrogen is associated with breast cancer.

Normalising leptin function is therefore critical in cancer risk individuals as it is the single most important hormone for controlling our body weight control. Because leptin regulates our thyroid, insulin, growth, and adrenal hormones it is vital for regulating all our metabolic processes.

What can you do?

Anyone with a pattern on consistently overeating will become leptin resistant, which means that leptin is unable to deliver its message to the brain to stop eating. To regulate and redress this you need to first drastically cut out any consumption of processed carbohydrates and focus on a diet of natural whole foods. A good night’s sleep is also important and light interrupts leptin function so make sure your bedroom is really dark and don’t put on lights to go the bathroom but put in a low plug light to show you the way. Exercise in a moderate will help, and so will reducing any stress in your life. My own stress book is now available as an ebook for immediate download at www.sortingstressout.com but if you prefer a real paperback I have some copes available, just email me.

If sugar is an addiction for you, then speak to a herbalist and look at some of the herbs like Gymnema sylvestre, and Inula racemosa to help reduce the desire for sweet tasting foods and help bring the taste system back to natural balance.

Eating for two can predict daughter’s future obesity

As a society we are increasingly overweight, and pregnant women are not immune. However, there is now evidence that the mother’s weight and the amount she gains during pregnancy can have a serious impact on her daughter’s risk of obesity decades later. Eating for two is not an option, and Alison Stuebe, M.D., assistant professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of North Carolina who carried out the study, analysed data on more than 24,000 mother-daughter pairs.

She found that the heavier a mother was before her pregnancy, then she was twice as likely to have a daughter who was obese as an adult. Daughters whose mothers gained 15 to 19 pounds during pregnancy had the lowest risk of obesity whereas daughters whose mothers gained more than 40 pounds were almost twice as likely to be obese at age 18 and later in life.

Obviously diet through childhood and eating patterns picked up in the family will have played their part, but she stressed that women should aim for a healthy weight before they get pregnant, and then gain only a moderate amount.

Music’s role in heart health

I am a great believer in the restorative power of music and have written before about its role in helping reduce blood pressure and anxiety in cancer patients and there carers. Now it seems it can also help aftercare rehabilitation for heart and stroke patients.

One reason why this makes sense is that our blood flow and respiratory rates can actually change their rhythm to be in synch with music according to a study by Italian researchers at Pavia University and published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. They had found in an earlier study in 2006 that music with faster tempos resulted in increased breathing, heart rate and blood pressure and that when the music was paused there was a fall in all those rates.

Not sure why this is news, they just needed to have asked women who knit in time to music and find themselves racing up a sleeve whenever a military march came on the radio or they were listening to a band concert in the park and the strains of Yesterday reduced their stitch rate by half! Now they have found that swelling crescendos in the volume stimulate our body and that gradual decreases in volume makes us relax. I am sure there is an emotional component here as we respond viscerally to music which then affects our whole body systems but it is clear that music does induce a continuous, dynamic — and to some extent predictable — change in our cardiovascular system and that it is a two way process.

So if you want a healthy heart listen to music that stimulates it a little, and also offers relaxation – for myself I would add in joy as well, but that isn’t covered in the research. If you want to try the experiment for yourself they played their subjects random selections including Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony; an aria from Puccini’s Turandot; a Bach cantata (BMW 169); Va Pensiero from Nabucco; Libiam Nei Lieti Calici from La Traviata — as well as two minutes of silence. The profile of music (crescendo or decrescendo) was continuously tracked by the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and change was particularly marked when the music was rich in emphasis, like opera.

The technical stuff:

Every crescendo in the music led to increased narrowing of blood vessels under the skin, increased blood pressure and heart rate and increased respiration. In each music track the extent of the effect was proportional to the change in music profile.

During the silent pause, changes decreased, with blood vessels under the skin dilating and marked reductions in heart rate and blood pressure. Unlike with music, silence reduced heart rate and other variables, indicating relaxation.

Music phrases around 10 seconds long, like those used in “Va Pensiero” and “Libiam Nei Lieti Calici,” synchronized inherent cardiovascular rhythm, thus modulating cardiovascular control.

We know that music reduces stress, boosts athletic performance and enhances motor skills of people with neurological impairments and is frequently being used as a therapeutic tool for heart and stroke patients. What’s new is that this study shows that alternating between fast and slow music (crescendo and decrescendo within the same music track) may be potentially more effective.

If you are interested in the music that was used in the clinical trial at the Bristol Cancer Help Centre then visit SulisMusic.com

The (literal) rise of moobies

There has been much press coverage men’s increased exposure to oestrogen, and the rise of fast food eating in young men, both of which have contributed to men being more prone to excess fat on the chest which are referred to as moobs, but why? Body image therapist Emma James explain that moobs are fatty deposits on the mammary area of men, more commonly known as male breast tissue. Moobies, or man breasts, have been around from some time, but in recent years have acquired more attention as the focus of perfection has highlighted an area which until now has remained an accepted part of carrying additional weight for men.”

But why? Well we have an increased amount of oestrogen in the water supply through widespread use of the Pill and HRT, but other factors also play a part such as an increase in weight, lack of physical activity, and decreased testosterone levels as men age. Today we have a much more sedentary lifestyle, less manual labour and exercise so that men’s body fat percentages have increased.

The sexes have different areas where the body fat is harder to shift with dieting and exercise. For women it is the thighs, lower back, lower abdominals and buttocks and for men, it is the stomach, lower back and moobs/chest area.

Don’t despair:

Moobies are something that can fairly easily be tackled with a combination of diet and exercise that will promote testosterone, increase muscle tissue and shape the chest area. It’s the combination that is important, because if you don’t diet when exercising, you will build muscle under the fat and possibly make them worse. Find a diet or eating plan that will speed up your metabolism and also help you lose body fat – men seem to do well on high protein diets such as modified Atkins – but check out all possibilities and no crash or fad diets please. On the diet front it’s the old enemies of processed foods, salt, sugar and bread and make an appointment to get a personalised workout at a gym.

You need specific exercises to shape your pectoral (chest) muscles and banish those moobies and you need professional guidance and help to achieve it. I am told you need to keep the repetition range to a fat burning level of 12 to 20 reps and to work the upper, mid and lower areas of the chest. No, I haven’t tried it myself – why would I – but I am told that is the most effective regime.

Pesticides last longer in kids

Summer brings bounty in the fields and the gardens and that applies to the insects that feed off it – which leads the farmers and gardeners to reach for the means to control them. Pesticide exposure poses a health risk to us all, but particularly to children. Obviously children’s systems are more vulnerable to the toxic effects, but new research by the University of California at Berkeley has revealed that their susceptibility lasts much longer than expected.

A new born baby has only one-third of paraoxonase 1 (PON1), an enzyme critical to the detoxification of organophosphate pesticides, than the baby’s mother has. It was previously thought that PON1 enzyme activity in children approached adult levels by age 2, but the horrific figure this research has thrown up is that the enzyme level remained low in some children right up to the age of seven.

This has led the researchers to recommended that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) re-evaluate the current standards for acceptable levels of pesticide exposure. For parents, it means being extra vigilant when using pesticides in the garden and making sure that children are in the house and the windows are closed until several hours after spraying. Organophosphate pesticides in products sold for use in homes, are severely restricted, mainly because of risks to children but are still available for agricultural use. If driving through, or living near, farmland where crop spraying takes place again keep windows closed to minimize exposure.

How to avoid or eliminate kidney stones

If you have ever had a kidney stone you know that you will do anything to avoid the incredible pain they can cause. Those most at risk have a family history of the condition and men as they get them four times as often as women. Unfortunately once you have had one attack your chances of getting another rise to around 75 percent, and the younger you are when you get the first the odds are even higher.

Kidney stones can be minute or as big as a golf ball and if it doesn’t pass out of your system then you can do permanent damage to your urinary tract. More adults are being diagnosed, and so are children as young as five or six, and the blame for the increase can be laid at the door of our modern diet – particularly an excess of salt and the fact we do not drink enough water. Other risk factors include having high blood pressure and digestive problems.

Spotting a kidney stone:

Well the pain in your side and back, just below your ribs, will give you a clue so never ignore it – though it’s severity usually means you won’t be able to. You may have pain when urinating and it can be cloudy, malodorous or bloody and you may have an ‘urgent’ bladder that demands immediate attention. Nausea and vomiting can accompany an attack or even feel cold sweat or a fever.

Kidney stones occur when the minerals and acid salts in your urine crystallize, stick together, and solidify into a mass and this happens when your urine is at the extreme of acidity or alkalinity. Happily, most stones pass within a few days without you doing anything at all, but if you have any of the above symptoms go see your doctor immediately.

How to deal with it:

Well first step is to monitor the colour of your urine. Pale is good, but the darker it is the more you need to increase your water intake. Ideally it should be a pale yellow – unless you are taking B complex supplements which can turn the urine bright yellow/orange in colour due to the B2 they contain, so this is not a reliable guide for you in that case. Next, help your body by keeping it active with regular exercise to mobilise fluids, and avoid those things that promote kidney stones; sugar, caffeine, salt, processed foods.

You also need good levels of magnesium in your diet, as it is believed to help prevent stones from forming. See the item on osteoporosis for some food suggestions. Also, don’t avoid calcium-rich foods – although calcium is what makes up the stones the calcium from foods is good for you – but not that from supplements which actually increase your risk.

Being thirsty is a warning you are dehydrated, not a signal to get a drink. You need to be ahead of your thirst, not behind it.

Osteoporosis Prevention

According to government figures hip fractures cause more than 1150 premature deaths each month in the UK. By the age of 75 around half the population have osteoporosis, because as we get older our bones become more fragile and likely to break or fracture. Your risk is dependent on many factors including family history, race, gender, certain medical conditions and drugs, and your age. You can’t do anything about changing most of those, but you can do something to help prevent osteoporosis.

The first question is diet, and it increases your osteoporosis risk if you crash diet or have a very low body weight as you body takes the calcium it needs from your bones if you are not providing it in your diet. Some foods are very calcium-rich and so are beneficial in helping bones stay strong. These are: Low-fat or non-fat dairy products, tinned sardines and tinned salmon, dark green vegetables, tofu, almonds, figs, sesame seeds and calcium-fortified fruit juices and soy milk. If you can’t stomach any of those, then get a good calcium/magnesium supplement – not just calcium alone as you need the magnesium for maximum calcium absorption. .

Magnesium deficiency can be quite common in osteoporosis and although many fruit and vegetables have some magnesium in them, the best sources are whole grains, wheat bran, leafy green vegetables, nuts (almonds are a very rich source of magnesium and calcium), , bananas and apricots. You also need trace minerals: Boron from apples, almonds, pears and green, leafy vegetables and manganese from ginger, buckwheat and oats.

Collagen is a vital factor in having healthy ligaments, tendons and bones and for so are zinc, copper, beta carotene and vitamin C so if you are taking a multivitamin make sure those are all included.

Exercise is also important, and it’s never too late to start. The key factor is that it must be weight bearing such as walking, dancing, playing tennis. Tai Chi and Yoga are also very beneficial, but swimming although an excellent cardiovascular workout is not weight bearing and so won’t help prevent osteoporosis.

I am a great believer in using natural hormones to help with osteoporosis and this is work that was pioneered in the USA by the late Dr John Lee. He prescribed natural progesterone cream to his patients and kept a faithful record of their bones scans over the course of treatment. He saw a substantial improvement in bone density and soon became an outspoken proponent of its use, not something that endeared him to the medical profession! I myself set up the Natural Progesterone Information Service in the 1990’s as I believed very firmly in his work, and helped pass on his great results to many women, and some enlightened doctors.

Many women take HRT in the belief that it will help or prevent osteoporosis, and for a short time it will delay bone loss. Over time, however, that ability reduces and what is really needed is the hormone that actually builds bone. That is progesterone and unless that is introduced into any treatment regime then can be no improvement in bone density, which is the only real test of whether osteoporosis is being reversed or halted.

If you believe you are at risk of osteoporosis because of any of the risk factors I have mentioned, then speak to your GP about having a scan. Unfortunately osteoporosis has no outward signs to catch it in the early stages – it cannot be diagnosed from looking at you, or talking to you. The ‘symptom’ most easily seen is when a bone breaks under slight pressure or there are a number of breaks in a short period of time.

Prevention makes good sense, so plenty of exercise, calcium rich foods and investigate the role of natural hormones in building bone.

Drink up – you need it

Most companies these days have water coolers which may be great as a source of gossip, but they are apparently not being used for their real purpose. Over the last year, Water Wellpoint has checked well over 2,000 individuals in the workplace, providing them with individual health information, as well as confidential reports to management identifying any potential health problems before they become serious.

Water Wellpoint are a company who go into organizations and do a portable health check with a machine that allows employees to check a range of their simple ‘vital signs’ (weight, heart rate, blood pressure, BMI, body fat content and hydration quota). Of the standard checks they found high blood pressure and weight problems, but staggeringly they also found that more than 78% of the people tested were likely to be dehydrated and of these 66% significantly so.

Water is essential for good health and to keep our bodies functioning properly. People at work often complain of headaches and fatigue and these are symptoms of dehydration. Lack of water can lead to dry skin, dry eyes and constipation. Don’t just gossip at the water cooler, drink a decent amount while you are standing there!

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